Quirguistão: o que fazer e visitar

Mountains cover most of Kyrgyzstan, and the Tien Shan range crowns its centre and east. Bishkek, the capital, is a green, orderly city of wide avenues, poplars and Soviet-era buildings, with Ala-Too Square at its heart and the snowy Kyrgyz range rising to the south. Osh, the second city, lies in the Fergana Valley beneath Sulaiman-Too, a sacred mountain listed by UNESCO.

Lake Issyk-Kul, one of the largest mountain lakes in the world, stays unfrozen in winter, and Karakol, at its eastern end, has a wooden Dungan mosque built without nails and a Russian Orthodox church. Nearby are the Jeti-Oguz red cliffs, the hot springs of Altyn Arashan and trekking routes. Further south, high pastures around Song-Kol hold summer yurt camps.

Beshbarmak, boiled meat and noodles, and lagman, hand-pulled noodles in a rich sauce, are staples, and kymyz, fermented mare's milk, is the traditional summer drink. Horses are central to life, from games on horseback to the felt kalpak hat. The mountains are best from June to September, and winters bring heavy snow to the passes and ski slopes.